Thoughts on Social Media and Me

For those who are employed, and or those with families and kids at home, life can feel quite full. Their diaries are exploding with busy schedules. They often can’t do things because there is no time left after doing all the other things they have to do.

Alone is not my preferred way

For those who are not employed and without an at-home family, there is time. There can be a lot of time, alone time. And if one is an ADHD extrovert whose brain works best when sharing experiences (quite possibly only works when sharing) life can at times feel quite empty. The connections on social media help to fill that emptiness. It can be a life saving feeling of belonging and connection. It can be that place to share what makes life real for us.

Quite often I think of my departed (but ever with me) friend, Barb. She was basically housebound in Ohio for a long while, but her close FB friendships were genuine and life sustaining. As I said, she remains with me in memory and heart, and yet I knew her 99% through Facebook. I can have real closeness through social media. Not everyone can, or is willing to. It does not mean I am better or worse for that. It is just who I am. I need to share. I am not one of those lucky people who is just perfectly happy with their own company. If I see something cool, the first thing I want to do is to show it to someone else. And if I have no one to share it with, then social media will suffice to a degree.

Yesterday morning I mentioned that some friends have implied that I post overly much on Facebook. I needed to expand on that and wrote this blog entry. First of all, please understand that no one has ever told me not to post! It is more that some have said, "Oh I didn't know that" about something big I had posted days ago that was important to me. And then made the comment, "Oh, you just post so much stuff. I can’t follow it." That is what I was talking about. I don’t post so much stuff. I make a conscious choice to post only what is important to me to share with my friends. It helps me to write it and put it out there. If I did not have a way to put it out there, I would not write. Such is my brain. When I wrote songs, I wrote them to sing for people. Even though I wrote the type of songs that I would like to hear myself, they were written to share with others. I never sit around and sing and play my music alone. Never in life.

Used correctly, this social media is a wonderful tool with which to keep in touch. You can go to my Timeline (immediately reloading it so you see it, and not an algorithm version) and by scrolling down you will know what, and how, I have been doing. We can follow along with each other's lives from across the country or different sides of the globe and that can be so very cool. Sharing.

The connections on here are important to me. I do rely on y’all. On social media I am as honest and genuine (a word that means a lot to me) as I can be without including too much information about others. This is me that you read. It helps me to be able to share this life that is hurtling along at a pace that I find truly unbelievable. Writing helps me to slow it down and look at, and maybe even understand it a bit more.

I do indeed attempt to post within a positive framework. I mention my migraines, depression and anxiety since they are a part of my life, I would not be genuine if I didn't. And I relegate almost all political type posts to the R. Bruce performer page. Of course I despise the current horror in my country of origin and mention it there.

To accompany this babble, I decided to post photos of my MacBook (bless its old heart, I may have to buy a new one before too long... crowd funding maybe hahaha). These are pictures of that laptop from across Australia (and one in the US). That's the machine through which I was able to keep in touch with so many of you on this social media. I am indeed grateful to you for being there and to the technology that makes it possible.

On the veranda of Kingfisher Park Birdwatcher's Lodge, Julatten, FNQ September 2015 I dearly love that place and those people.

Chili Beach, Iron Range, Cape York, FNQ October 2015

House sitting in Torquay, VIC January 2016

Kangaroo Island, SA January 2016

Drummond Cove, Buller, Western Australia, March 2016

In the little guest cottage at my Yabok's in Darwin River, NT, May 2016

At a drawing desk I no longer have on the wonderful sunroom/porch overlooking the water in Manns Harbor, NC September 2016. That is where I really began writing my book, The Year.

In the far too tiny house in Lara, VIC April 2017

At my campsite, O'Reilly's, Lamington National Park, QLD, November 2017           

The porch of the far too tiny house, March 2018

In the back of Troopi in Waikerie, SA April 2018  

Lyndhurst Hotel, Lyndhurst, SA, May 2018 I loved that place

In my study January 2019

As I have said probably too many times, not everyone gets it. They don’t have to. Some people prefer to be closed books and that is absolutely okay for them. Just do not ever expect me to be. I will be sharing.

I write therefore I am. I share therefore it’s real. I love because it’s why we are all here in the first place.